Document processing equipment such as multifunction printer (MFP) devices, photocopiers, and laser printers can be used to create both simple documents and complex printed media applications such as business cards, postcards, books, booklets, and other applications. Proper production of such printed media applications often requires the use of separate finishing machines after printing or copying is complete. Examples of finishing machines include cutters, slicing machines, creasers, trimmers, punchers, binding machines, coating machines, and multi-function finishers.
However, in current practice the persons operating such equipment in a busy production environment that is handling many different jobs may have difficulty in properly configuring or programming a finishing machine for a particular job. For example, a printer or copier may print or copy several different jobs all of which are completed at successive times and require finishing. The finishing machines require configuration or programming to properly finish each printed job. Under some circumstances, it may be difficult for operators to determine what configuration or programming is appropriate for a particular printed job. For example, if multiple printed jobs are completed near the same time and placed in a holding area, for each particular job the operator must locate an order sheet or other information that is associated with the particular job and specifies how to finish the job. If the order sheet or other information is misplaced then substantial delay or confusion can occur about how to program the finishing machine for that job.
Current manual configuration methods for finishing machines are also subject to human error and are time-consuming. There is no simple, automatic method for modifying the graphical user interface of a control station to accommodate different devices. There is no simple, automatic method for introducing control programs and graphical user interface information for new devices into a control station. Extensible software architectures are known in other contexts and can use modular software and error-checking. Object-oriented software design techniques can be used to establish generalized software architectures. Plug-in software modules have been used to extend the Mosaic web browser and as part of the “control panel” of Apple, Inc. Multiple user interfaces have been used for the same set of data using a data model that provides a view or interacts with a controller for the data.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.